The Mentor Board, one of the key added value tools for acceleration and startup support provided by ASTER, was presented at the City of Science in Napoli during EBN Tech Camp (October 5th and 6th 2017), the main event of the EUBIC network, the European Business Innovation Center Network.
Lucie Sanchez, in charge for ASTER of several business acceleration programs, as the Climate KIC Accelerator Italy, attended the "Mentoring Experience Compared" plenary session, and focused her speech on the Mentor Board, launched in 2016.
This is a best practice introduced in ASTER following the experiences learned in Silicon Valley and in particular the methodology of GSV Labs, one of Silicon Valley's most advanced accelerators, which can count on the support of a Mentor Board of more than 200 experts.
Mentors come from large companies based in Emilia-Romagna region with an unique and high-level know-how that they make available for free for the startups of ASTER and Climate-KIC Startup Accelerator Italy, to guide them in their process of market approach and business consolidation.
During the first year (2016) 11 startups benefitted from the ASTER Mentor Board in over 50 meetings.